Crockpot tortellini soup with spinach is a creamy bowl of comfort food that everyone will love. Quick and easy to throw together with frozen tortellini noodles stuffed with cheese or meat! Just $15 serves a family of 5 for dinner.
Jump To
- Crockpot Soup with Frozen Tortellini
- Best Meat to Use
- How to Make Creamy
- Do you have to precook meat before adding it to soup?
- How Long to Cook Tortellini Soup in Slow Cooker
- FAQ
- Crockpot Tortellini Soup Recipe
- What is the difference between ravioli and tortellini?
- What is a good side dish for tortellini soup?
- How long does tortellini soup last?
If you’ve never made tortellini soup, you’re missing out. For under twenty bucks you too can make a pot of this easy Crockpot recipe to serve to everyone tonight. It’s truly a throw together and enjoy when you’re home kind of meal.
You only need 6 ingredients for this frozen tortellini recipe and a ladle, then you’re done. Pair it with some bread and BAM…dinner is done! There are many different filled noodles you can choose from at the store. Find them frozen at the grocery store in cheese or beef typically.
You can see the ingredients here. Swap out meat for cheese filled pasta, or use ground beef if you prefer that over sausage. You could even shred rotisserie for Crockpot chicken tortellini soup! Either way this slow cooker soup recipe is incredible.
Under $20 to feed a family of 6??!! Totally. Of course if you buy brand names it may be a bit more, organic meat is pricier too. As you can see, 3 out of the 6 are Great Value (Walmart) brand which saves bunches. You don’t have to defrost, cook or thaw what is in the bag first either, just throw it right in!
Any brand works really. If you are on a budget buy whatever is cheapest, if you are choosier about what was inside the bigger brands may have more choices. You can choose vegetarian style, beef, cheese, etc…
Crockpot Soup with Frozen Tortellini
You are going to want to pick up a large bag of frozen tortellini noodles stuffed with meat or cheese tortellini, your choice of flavor. Do not boil them, defrost or anything. You just dump them right into your pot right out of the freezer to make this!!
Best Meat to Use
For the meat we are using precooked ground sausage but you could use ground beef, ground turkey, chicken sausage too. Or half and half of any of them would be fine as this is super versatile.
Chicken broth or make homemade chicken stock to use as the necessary liquid. This adds flavor to the dish vs. using water which wouldn’t add any yum to it.
Fold in a large can of diced tomatoes, or could use 1/2 or 1/3 Rotel and the rest diced if you wanted to add a bit of heat to be spicy.
How to Make Creamy
Then you are going to want a block of Cream cheese. Don’t use low fat, come on now we want it creamy and we aren’t counting calories today. You could use a dairy free / lactose free variety but I will say that is granier.
Fresh spinach leaves we love to add at the end just until tender. You can leave that out but any way I can add vegetables to a dinner dish I will. 😉
Variations and Substitutions
If you’re really opposed to vegetables you could leave the spinach out, but really it offers a nice texture and flavor to the dish. Only have vegetable broth on hand? NO worries, use that! As for meat, sliced kielbasa sausage is best. Plumps up in the pot and is precooked so you don’t have to test the internal temp.
Do you have to precook meat before adding it to soup?
Yes you do, unless it was seafood then it could boil in the broth to cook quickly. You’d need to brown sausage in this case on the stove in a pan. In the case of our Instant Pot sausage soup you can do this with the saute function!
If you want a really low fat version you can even add your proteins into a strainer and have hot water run over the top. When we are eating really clean and healthy I will do this and it helps rinse off a lot of fat. I will say that fat = flavor when it comes to meats. SOoooooo most of the time I will just dump everything in, with the grease.
How Long to Cook Tortellini Soup in Slow Cooker
You are going to need about 5 minutes to brown the ground meat first before adding to the pot. Beyond that there is no prep, just dump everything else in there, no defrosting necessary. Then you want to cook for about 5 hours until noodles are tender and insides are warmed.
Is it better to cook on low or high?
Personally I do not like to cook less hours on high because I feel it turns out best low and slow…..thus the name of the pot itself y’all. Noodles don’t take long to get tender so check those often especially if you want them al dente when served.
FAQ
They can either have a meat based filling, or they’re filled with ricotta or spinach. Traditionally cooked in water or broth until tender, tortelloni can also be added to soups to become tender that way (as in this case).
If you feel the broth isn’t thick enough for you at the end you could thicken a bit with a bit more softened cream cheese or whisk a bit of cornstarch with water and stir that in to bubble.
Crockpot Tortellini Soup Recipe
Equipment
- 1 slow cooker
Ingredients
- 1 bag tortellini, frozen, 19 oz bag
- 1 pound ground sausage, ground beef, or precooked shredded chicken
- 1 can diced tomatoes, 28 oz, or rotel
- 4 cup chicken broth, or vegetable broth
- 1 block cream cheese, 8 oz, room temp, cut into cubes
- 1 bag spinach, fresh, 10 oz, optional
Instructions
- On the stovetop, brown your ground sausage or ground beef. (you could alternatively shred some rotisserie chicken and add that instead). Drain grease from pan and add into your Crockpot.
- Pour in your can of diced tomatoes, broth, and cubes of cream cheese. Stir to combine.
- Cook on low for 5 hours. For best results stir twice during this time.
- After this time, add the frozen tortellini and fresh spinach leaves, submerge into the liquid. Cook an additional 15-30 minutes until noodles are warmed into the center and tender to your liking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What is the difference between ravioli and tortellini?
Ravioli is two layers of pasta in traditionally a square shape whereas tortellini is one piece of pasta folded into dumpling like shapes. I suppose you could use either or but the latter I feel holds up a bit better since the noodle is a bit thicker.
What is a good side dish for tortellini soup?
Serve in bowls with a side of Crockpot cornbread, a salad or rolls to dip in on the side! It’s a great recipe guest post you can make on busy nights and/or when you’re on a budget.
Want to try another version of this, but cooked a lot quicker with a tomato flair? Try our creamy tomato basil soup with the same pasta.
How long does tortellini soup last?
Well that is IF you have any leftovers, what do you do with them? Allow it to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container or freezer storage bag. Keep in fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in microwave in 30 sec. intervals.
